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Starting a food co-op: Year 1

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Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#141

Post by jeegsy »

bombcar wrote: post #14
debacle wrote: post #11

There is a local group trying to "disrupt" coops in this way: find members to shell out $$, have a steering committee, do a lot of marketing, all before the coop even has a location in mind. Meanwhile there are actual coops (though they don't call themselves that) with skyrocketing membership who are doing, not planning, and slowly growing to encompass more than just produce. One of them now has a year-round greenhou…

There's one trying to get off the ground here, and it's a similar story - it has been more than five years and nothing has actually happened except marketing whatever it is they're doing. Meanwhile at least two different actual grocery stores have closed, and two more changed ownership; they could have bought either of them (I daresay a fundraiser would have worked) and kept them running. Some farmer's markets are hi…

> just people buying from the same massive supply firms that feed the grocery stores and selling it in little stalls.

This was so funny and a bit sad because it suddenly occurred to me that this is likely the case.

Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#142

Post by sure_about_that »

wonderwonder wrote: post #131
sure_about_that wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My kids are also Jewish, from my wife’s side. It is interesting to hear the comments of people when they have no idea. Voting for split representation is a perfectly reasonable approach. I personally think DeSantis is pro-power, not pro-freedom. His stunt with asylum-seeking migrants is a great example. Also the fact that Florida doesn’t have things like legal weed, legal sports betting, legal abortion, and more.

I for the most part agree with all your points on Desantis. Medical marijuana in Florida is a joke, I'm pro legalization. Not a fan of gambling personally but to each their own. On a personal level I think he's a Jerk. So with all that said as someone in my 40s that has only voted Democrat before, the fact that I am voting for Desantis shows how concerned I am with the social engineering going on in the country.

I think DeSantis is the one engaging in social engineering, you just happen to agree with his policies. He is simply leaning into the culture wars which leads us to continued division without any actual solutions for the very real problems in our states/country.

I haven’t seen any evidence that being “anti-woke” improves K-9 test scores, lowers infant fatality rates, reduces mass shootings, improves quality of life, increases earnings, or any other actual benefit to citizens. It’s a distraction meant to prey on your emotions and hide the lack of actual policies.

Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#143

Post by bombcar »

bmj wrote: post #138
bombcar wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So I've seen a couple of different kinds: 1. The one they're working on results in a "grocery store" when done - it's coop run and handles working with distributors, etc. It often ends up "feeling" like a Whole Foods or similar, as the "non-direct" farm products end up sourced from similar distributors. 2. The "farmer's market" type - where you end up with basically a continual farmer's market - this one can grow int…

The coop in my city (I've been a member for over 30 years) does a very good job of bridging your first two descriptions. It is a full service grocery store, but there is an emphasis on local producers. Not all of the produce or meat is local, but much of it is, and the staff always highlights the number of local producers available on the shelves. The coop also has the largest bulk food section in the area (it puts t…

Bulk foods and understanding tare weight on empty containers is one place coops can really shine. Being able to restock your pantry with no packaging waste is wonderful.

Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#144

Post by Kalium »

luckylion wrote: post #86
Kalium wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coops often find it harder to borrow and they cannot sell equity. This makes the every "get some funding" step harder than it sounds. Going over the list I see a lot of people-organizing and community-outreach efforts. These are definitely going to be more time-intensive than setting up an LLC owned by a single person and running with that.

Why can't they sell equity? I live in a housing coop, and they do sell equity. I own 100 shares.

My apologies, I can see I was not nearly specific enough.

In addition to needing to sell a lot of equity to get enough money, coops generally cannot sell equity to outside parties through general-purpose capital markets to raise funds. Living in a housing coop, you can buy shares as a resident-owner. I would guess your coop does not have many investor-owners who own shares while not living in the housing coop.

Does this clarify my point for you?

Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#145

Post by selimthegrim »

wonderwonder wrote: post #129
selimthegrim wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can someone decide how not to be anti-Semitic on their own?

Of course, why not?

You might want to tell that to among others Jeffrey Goldberg, who thinks Jews have the exclusive right to define what anti-Semitism is - Google “neocon puppet masters”

Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#146

Post by oldandboring »

Melatonic wrote: post #90
oldandboring wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love the concept of a CSA. We've tried it a few times. It's such a great idea and I want these things to succeed. For us, we canceled after a few weeks each time because the ones we joined were all setup similarly: once every week or so, you get a bag of food, whatever's in season. That leaves us having to figure out what to do with all this stuff we don't normally cook and don't have recipes for, and that the kids…

That is kind of the whole point of a CSA though - you adapt each week or month or whatever. How things used to be basically before the advent of the super grocery store and global supply chain.

Right, I know. Wasn't a good fit for us having hectic lives and two little kids. Most of what we received ended up going to waste.

Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#147

Post by oldandboring »

smeagull wrote: post #91
oldandboring wrote: post #74

So much enlightening info in these comments about the economics of these stores and the truth behind the sourcing of the food. I've been a co-op member for almost 20 years; back before I had kids and lived really close to the store we used to go there almost every day. The biggest draw was always the quality of the food; the chain stores were only selling conventional and mass-produced products and if you wanted a be…

The one thing my local co-op does is being able to buy a random box of seasonal fruit and veg for cheap. That's ended up being cheaper than our supermarket.

Similar effect as a CSA but you get to choose whether you actually want the stuff and when. Pretty nifty idea.

Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#148

Post by wonderwonder »

selimthegrim wrote: post #145
wonderwonder wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course, why not?

You might want to tell that to among others Jeffrey Goldberg, who thinks Jews have the exclusive right to define what anti-Semitism is - Google “neocon puppet masters”

Why do I have to do that? Does Goldberg represent all Jews? Do you think we Jews have each other on speed dial? He's just a dude expressing his opinion. If one jew says something can you just point to him and be like "well the Jews think this"? Much like one black person or even thousands of them shouldn't be able to decide that most people are racist and require everyone to take hours of courses, neither should Jews or anyone else.

Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#149

Post by wonderwonder »

sure_about_that wrote: post #142
wonderwonder wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I for the most part agree with all your points on Desantis. Medical marijuana in Florida is a joke, I'm pro legalization. Not a fan of gambling personally but to each their own. On a personal level I think he's a Jerk. So with all that said as someone in my 40s that has only voted Democrat before, the fact that I am voting for Desantis shows how concerned I am with the social engineering going on in the country.

I think DeSantis is the one engaging in social engineering, you just happen to agree with his policies. He is simply leaning into the culture wars which leads us to continued division without any actual solutions for the very real problems in our states/country. I haven’t seen any evidence that being “anti-woke” improves K-9 test scores, lowers infant fatality rates, reduces mass shootings, improves quality of life,…

Maybe true, but I'm not looking for solutions to those things. Neither Democrats nor Republicans have solved them. California still has all the same issues. I specifically don't want to be treated as a racist in training by taking a million anti discrimination classes or be insulted by a class telling me to "sit in my shame". In addition I don't want schools to have the power to treat kids as different genders and not alert the parents. Nor do I want teachers to be able to promote transgenderism or homosexuality as a viable option for kids. If the child is gay or transgender on their own, so be it. School should not be the realm to promote it or suggest it.

Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#150

Post by selimthegrim »

wonderwonder wrote: post #148
selimthegrim wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might want to tell that to among others Jeffrey Goldberg, who thinks Jews have the exclusive right to define what anti-Semitism is - Google “neocon puppet masters”

Why do I have to do that? Does Goldberg represent all Jews? Do you think we Jews have each other on speed dial? He's just a dude expressing his opinion. If one jew says something can you just point to him and be like "well the Jews think this"? Much like one black person or even thousands of them shouldn't be able to decide that most people are racist and require everyone to take hours of courses, neither should Jews…

I’m not holding you liable for him, I’m just saying this seems to be a non-negligible school of thought and an assertion that is not easy to respond to as a non-Jew. Goldberg certainly thinks he seems to speak for more than himself.
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